The Pelican swooped in from the sky above and headed straight for the city. Dimmed explosions could be seen through the clouds and lines of dull blue lights could be seen from the city's upper plate structuring. New Mombasa, one of the few floating capital cities, was under attack from the get go by the Covenant. While on their way Cortana was fed the information from SOL FLEETCOM HQ about what was going on and relayed it to the Chief and the marines on board.

"...it took two in the nose, then dropped into the atmosphere." she said. The Chief watched as the city got larger and observed the chaos from a distance. Sergeant Johnson was next to the Chief in the cockpit along with the two pilots in the ODST's uniform.

" Who was first contact?" the Chief asked. Johnson turned his head to the Chief and spoke.

" 405th out of Diego Garcia...but don't expect a big welcome. Covenant wiped most of 'em out before they hit the ground." The Pelican continued on its way and passed over a pair of scout snipers on a roof top looking over one of the main avenues. The spotter activated his radio as he looked down his range finder. There were several enemy units running by followed by four pieces of Covenant armor.

" Immediate 3-Kilo-2-3 is hot. Recommend mission abort." the Spotter said. The Pelican's pilot continued going, but slowed down a bit for maneuvering.

The pilot replied back, " Roger, recon." He turned back to Johnson who was hanging onto the back of the copilot's seat. " It's your call, Sergeant."

Johnson pointed forward, " We're goin' in," he turned back to the troop compartment and barked, " GET TACTICAL, MARINES!" The ODSTs in the back checked their weapons and donned their helmets. A moment later plasma flak was coming in from the surface. The pilot stayed on course as blue explosions that were double the size of plasma grenades went off all around them. The pilot was well within New Mombasa dodging the flak and flying around the stratoscrappers that littered the floating giant.

" Covenant ground forces own this city." Cortana said, " We'll need to deal with them before we can kill that cruiser." The Pelican went through more flak and suffered no damage. The firing stopped as it banked for a landing on a roof. There was a pre-fab landing pad set up waiting for it as the dropship deployed its landing gear and pointed its thrusters downward to make a landing. The ramp was let down and Johnson jumped off the back end waving his arm forward.

" GO GO GO!" he yelled as the marines hopped off. The Master Chief stepped out of the dropship and took a look around. The sides of the nearby buildings had plasma scoring and portions missing due to heavy weapons fire. He watched as the marines ran from the dropship and disappeared around the corner going down a ramp. The Chief followed and heard Johnson over the radio. " I'll evac the wounded. Keep me posted, Cortana." In the background they could hear heavy gun figting up ahead and knew it would not be easy.

" Of course, Sergeant." Cortana replied. A marine stopped the Chief before he went down the ramp and gave a quick salute. The marine like everyone else was shorter than the Chief and sported an MA8A.

" Sir - Corporal Perez, A Company. CP's this way." he said. Perez lead him down the ramp and ran past a pair of marines who were helping each other out and were shocked to see the Chief. The wounded one didn't believe what he seeing. The Chief continued on his way ignoring what the marines were saying. He had gotten to the point where he was just used to that kind of talk.

As he continued they were coming up on the company's medical station. On the ground to the Chief's left was a medic frantically pumping on a wounded man's chest. The medic's face and the area was covered with the wounded man's bright red blood everywhere. To his right were two medics inside the main tent trying to save another man's life. It was pure hell for them at that moment. The Chief was crossing a road when two marines on patrol ran past him. Perez finally stopped and the Chief saw a medic looking down at his watch and at the man he couldn't save. " I'm calling it. It's 19:00." the medic said.

" The lieutenant got hit as soon as we dropped in." Perez explained gesturing to the corpse on the ground.

" Who's in charge now, Corporal?" Cortana asked.

Perez gestured behind him, " Sergeant Banks ma'am. He's pinned down out front. C'mon I'll show you." The corporal ran through the building he pointed to and lead the Chief inside. They past by a pile of rubble and a wounded marine on the stairs as they went up. They could hear heavy machine gun fire and plasma weapons. They passed the machine gun and the trigger happy marines operating near it. Finally Perez stopped just inside a doorway leading to the outer area. Perez ducked around the corner and shouted to a marine that was hiding, " Oye - Parsons!"

" Yeah? " Parsons replied keeping his head down.

" Is it clear?" When Perez finished his sentence a massive explosion took apart a section of wall just a few meters from Parsons position. Loose rubble hit the marines and the Chief.

" You tell me!" Parsons replied. Perez ducked back behind the door and made sure his weapon was ready.

He mumbled something and ran out shouting, " Friendlies - movin out! Covering fire!" Parson, Perez, and two others including the Chief ran to the edge over looking the street and began firing on the Covenant down below. Plasma fire was returned from the Grunts and Jackals down on the street. The Chief strafed right hugging the wall while firing his assault rifle in zoomed mode along the way. When he reached the end of the wall he went through a door and a ramp was there.

" Grunts down low!" A marine nearby yelled. The Chief went over and looked down on five Grunts that were slowly walking by. He threw an M9 amongst them, it exploded killing them, and leaving a small crater. He fired at the last of the Covenant in the area that they were across from. The Chief saw out of the corner of his eye a marine waving his hand. It was Sergeant Banks. The Chief ran over to the sergeant who was leaning his back up against the three foot tall remains of a wall. In his hand was an M7C submachine gun.

" I asked for reinforcements...I didn't think they'd send a Spartan." Banks said exhausted. The Chief saw a bright blue light beginning to form and looked up at a Covenant artillery piece. He had seen this type before, but not in a long while. Not since before the Reach disaster. The artillery piece built up a charge and then fired taking out a whole side of a building. " We gotta take that thing out...cover me!" Banks said, exposing his top half to the street below. " TAC HQ - this is Sergeant Banks. I've got hostile artillery 200 meters north-northeast of my position. Bring smoke NOW, over..." he said over his radio. There was a moment before he got any response.

" Hostile is right..." a marine replied. Again the artillery piece fired, but this time it was much closer. The explosive hit the side of a nearby building exposing the inner works of the structure.

" Dammit, HQ - is anybody on this freq?" Banks demanded.

Banks got a reply, " Sergeant this is Major Easley. Hang tight - we're inbound" The Chief looked back up at the artillery as it blew away another structure. He looked at his radar and multiple hostiles were coming in from the lower right. He looked over and saw a turret with a dead marine laying on it. The Chief pulled off the corpse and manned the chain fed weapon. He looked down and saw seven Jackals along with about ten Grunts moving along the road below. He opened fire and watched as the .30 caliber tracers flew towards the enemy. The bullets pinged off the Jackals' shields until the force of the bullets hitting forced their arms to move exposing them to the gun. Bullets tore through their bodies sending bits of flesh and black blood into the air. The Chief then targeted the Grunts and they too fell dead. After he was satisfied he unmanned the turret and heard the roar of two Longsword fighter coming in.

He looked up and saw the two flat fighters come in and drop their ordinance. The artillery piece was building up another charge as the fighters passed it and the bombs hit. The gun was unable to send its shell outward and blew from both ends to the center. Fire ran up and down the Covenant weapon until it fell and became a large piece of charred junk.

" Verify delivery of ordinance is on target. " Easley said.

" Dead on, Major - target is neutralized." Banks replied. The sergeant turned to the Master Chief and held his side handing over his submachine gun. " Take my weapon. You'll need it." The Chief took the weapon, slung his rifle, and took out the other M7C he grabbed while he was on the Pelican. With both guns in hand he headed down the ramp that was nearby and went onto the road. A few Jackals were waiting for him. He opened fire and bullets bounced off their shields. He aimed for the sides where their pistols could be used and fired.

The bullets made their mark and hit the hands of the Jackals. Those that were hit recoiled in pain and were torn apart by the Chief's dual SMGs. The Chief turned right from his position after dealing with the enemy and ducked inside a newly formed tunnel of debris. When he entered he was met by a squad of Grunts. He fired and fell back around the corner to allow his shields to recharge.

A marine ran up and tossed a grenade in yelling, " Frag and clear! Clear it out!" The explosion went off and the Chief ran in. He finished off the last two Grunts and their high pitched screams were heard over the snap like sound of his submachine guns. The Chief maneuvered through the tunnel until he exited looking down on five Jackals. He pulled out his assault rifle and zoomed in.

They noticed him and faced their shields toward him. He fired and they locked their shields together. Before the Chief had a chance to kill any of them two Warthogs sped in and ran the Jackals down. They stopped in front of the Chief.

" I can use a gunner, sir!" one of the drivers said. The Chief looked back at the two marines that had followed him up to this point.

" Go ahead, sir -we've got your back." one of the ODSTs said.

The Chief jumped into the Warthog that was without gunner and manned the M46 LATG. The LATG was a light anti-tank weapon recently developed specifically for the M12 LRV. The gun itself fires a version of the rockets used in standard anti-tank infantry weapons, but with a little less potency. The Chief racked in a shell and the semi-automatic weapon was ready to be used. The warthogs then left and were sent at top speed. They were quickly separated and the marines went for their targets.

They ran over a few fleeing Covenant and ran across a column of Creeps. The Creeps were originally seen at the first ground engagement after the Halo Campaign. They were a form of Covenant ground APC armed with a modified Shade turret. The Chief opened fire and took down one with a little over half-a dozen shots. The other behind it began firing and got two shots off before the Warthog had been out of range. He concentrated his fire up front taking out a squad of Grunts in two shots. They ran across two more Creeps and blew them to hell.

" Ghosts! Making a break for it! We got 'em!" the driver yelled. After he said this the marines began arguing amongst themselves over who should be driving and what not when a Phantom passed over head firing its belly turret laser.

Three long, thick streaks of red energy came out of the rotating turret. " Phantoms!" Cortana screamed into the Chief's head. He quickly adjusted to fire on the dropship. He got off three rounds before it turned around the corner and was unable to be hit. The Chief targeted the Ghosts and destroyed three in the chase. He passed by two more Creeps and destroyed them. Again another Phantom passed overhead and slowed down. Its bottom doors meant for carrying armor let down four creatures. Each were the size of Hunters, but more mobile and had a more muscular build. In addition they were covered in hair and up close they looked like an Elite-ape mix. " Brutes!" Cortana said. No more had she spoken two of the beasts leaped onto the Warthog in front of the Chief and onto his own. They tore out the passengers and tossed the soldiers as if they were toys. The Chief jumped down off of the gun and fired at the Brute on his warthog.

Bullets tore into the flesh, but the creature kept on coming. He finished his magazine in his assault rifle and rushed the creature hitting it in the chest with his rifle three times. The Brute dropped to the ground the Chief quickly reloaded as there were two more behind him and another in front. He fired three rounds into the downed Brute and began firing on the pair behind him. Modified plasma rifle fire came towards the Master Chief and made contact.

The direct approach wasn't working so he tried an indirect one instead. Nearby was a civilian vehicle that could be used as a grenade. The Brutes were next to the car when the Chief fired at the gas tank. The bullets ignited the gasoline and sent shrapnel into both of them killing the one nearest to the vehicle. He quickly fired on the survivor with his rifle and it too falls under a hail storm of bullets. He then turned to deal with the Brute behind him when Cortana spoke up again.

" Ghosts - to your right!" The Chief pulled out his SMGs and fired nearly the last of the ammo in the weapons as the first Ghost sped past him and through the bullets. He targeted the next one and finished off the ammo in the gun in his right hand. The Covenant LRV sped right for him as he jumped up on top of the vehicle. The driver was confused when the Master Chief landed on the Ghost. Before the pilot had a chance to shake the Spartan off, the Chief delivered a drop-kick sending the Brute out onto the ground as the Chief commandeered the vehicle. " The marines won't stand a chance, if those Phantoms double back! See if you can draw them off. "

The Chief did just that. He fired the Ghost's forward plasma cannons at the two Phantoms above him. The blue lances of fire hit and boiled away at the armored plating of the dropships. Three more Ghosts were deployed by the Phantoms and began to pursue the Chief. He finished grabbing their attention and took a road to his right leading to the highway.

As he went on ahead the Covenant was in hot pursuit firing their plasma weapons. The lead dropship fired ahead and above the Chief at a billboard in the attempt to have it fall on the Master Chief. After the Chief had past the billboard, before it fell, the pilot of that dropship tried to fly underneath of the falling sign and was hit on its starboard side. The craft flew sideways and went into a slow downward spin. The ship hit the road on its top and its power core went off destroying it. However the remaining force continued after the Chief.

Up ahead there was the main access door to the main highway. Normally open the door began to close. Cortana began to question the Chief's moves when he told her to hang on. The doors were nearly shut when he jumped off leaving an exploding Ghost behind him. He slid for twenty meters draining his shields all along the way.

The Ghost pilot behind him did not see the shut door until the last moment. At which point the LRV and the pilot went up in flames. The Master Chief stood up as the Ghost exploded and looked upward to see the orange sky and the Covenant cruiser he was after.

" Bingo, " Cortana said, " There's the cruiser. Now all we need to do is..." She trailed off as the Chief saw several blue-green streaks fall from the sky. They parted the clouds displaying the darkness that was to soon come over the city. His stomach fell with the thought of being glassed and of the thought that the fleet had been defeated. He looked closer and saw that the streaks were too small to be the plasma weapons that are used for glassing an area. Suddenly he heard a screech similar to a Banshee as seven of those streaks were landing nearby.

They were actually ten foot tall, green, chitonous pods. The Chief readied his SMGs and aimed at the nearest pod watching it open. A brilliant white light from within the pod created an eight foot tall shadow and out stepped a veteran class black armored Elite. Each of the pods were armed with the spilt chinned bastards. The Chief scanned his targets and watched as they each powered up an energy blade. The closest Elite shook its head growling. The Chief tossed his empty M7C behind him and drew a plasma grenade.

" Betcha can't stick it." Cortana dared the Chief. He accepted her challenge and tossed the grenade. He hit the first Elite, but the grenade did not stay as it should. Instead it bounced off the shield and landed on another. The Elite howled in fear and went up in a plume of super-heated fire. The Chief emptied the last of his ammo inside the submachine gun and ran backwards. The remaining Elites ran after him as he switched to his rifle. It was now he wished he had grabbed a plasma weapon along the way before he gotten himself into this mess.

He had taken on bladed Elites before, but not this many at once. He fired anyway and tossed a frag at his feet. He still ran backwards and the forward two Elites were more concerned with taking his head than anything else. They paid for their stupidity with a sudden flash in their faces and their shields dropping to dangerously low levels. They jumped back in surprise as the Chief fired his rifle. The last few slivers of shielding broke away to the armor piercing bullets. The two veterans fell backwards and hit the concrete road in their death throws.

Two more of the beasts caught up with the Chief. It was a blur of motions as the Master Chief dodged the first attack from the forward Elite. He spun around and slipped past it to turn around and see their backs. He knew their shields would be weak there due to the nature of the Elites' battle behavior and fired the last of his magazine into it. The shield dropped and he ran forward and landed two hits onto the creature's spine, shattering it.

He strafed left and dodged another attack by the other Elite. Three swings came close and missed by mear inches. All the while he was changing his magazine to counter attack. He locked the bolt in place and ducked yet another swing. The air grew extremely hot as the blade swung over his head. The Elite slid a little past the Chief while it attacked and was struck in the back of its head with the Chief's last plasma grenade.

It gave a final defiant roar and ran around in misery as the grenade engulfed it and its comrade it accidentally ran into. They both went up in flame. However the other survived the blast. It knelt down and tried to gain its breath before the human could attack once more. With its shields dropped and suffering third degree burns all along its body it knew it was highly unlikely it would win. Before it could regain itself though, the Chief finished it's misery with ten rounds to the chest cavity.

After confirming the Elites were dead the Chief stored away five new plasma grenades. He reloaded his weapons and retrieved the tossed M7C and put it aside. The Chief then looked at the piles of flesh of the Elites that were killed by the plasma grenades.

" I won the bet. " he said. Cortana gave a short laugh and redirected him. They had to go through downtown to get to the Covenant Cruiser above the city. The streets there were crawling with Covenant activity and he'd have to kill all of them to accomplish his mission, and he was ready to do so.